No one is quite sure which team Kevin Durant will sign with when free agency begins Sunday, but a report Friday suggests it would be a mistake to believe the Brooklyn Nets are the frontrunners to sign the Warriors star.There have been multiple reports the past week suggesting Durant is most likely destined for Brooklyn, but “sources familiar with the matter” told Ian Begley of SportsNet New York that the Nets are not the favorites for Durant.“The idea that the Nets are currently the front …read more

AIR China has moved to distance itself from “inappropriate’’ comments in an in-flight magazine slammed as racist.The airline says it has ordered the removal of the magazine from its aircraft after a CNBC reporter noticed a travel tip advising visitors to London to take precautions when entering areas “mainly populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people’’.“We advise tourists not to go out alone at night, and females always to be accompanied by another person when traveling,” the tip said.The entry in the September issue of The Wings of China magazine caused a furore in Britain and prompted demands for an apology.”I am shocked and appalled that even today some people would see it as acceptable to write such blatantly untrue and racist statements,” London-based MP Virendra Sharma told CNN.Air China said in a statement that Wings of China was one of almost 100 magazines distributed in its planes.“These publications are only supplementary reading materials and none of them represents the view of Air China,’’ it said. “The safety tips seen in the article “London, City of Hat Tricks’’ on the September issue of Wings of China are inappropriate.’’The airline said it had also demanded the Wings of China editorial team “learn the lesson, enhance content security so as to avoid similar issues from happening again.’’As an international airline with routes covering six continents, Air China “always highly respects the cultures and traditions or the people from different ethnicities in the world,’’ it said.The incident was deemed serious enough to warrant involvement by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which said it hoped Air China would properly handle the situation.”I want to emphasise the position of the Chinese government,” ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular press briefing. “We always hold that all races are equal and firmly oppose all forms of racial discrimination.”read more

INTERNATIONAL journalists from Brazil, Russia and China – all Brics member countries – are in South Africa for a week-long infrastructure media tour, hosted by Brand South Africa.The purpose of the tour is to drive a positive perception change about the country and its people to the international community, in line with the Brand South Africa international mandate.“Our reputation as a country is important as it affects our national competitiveness, which impacts on investment, jobs, growth and conversely on our national sense of pride and social cohesion.This exercise is an important step [in] attracting foreign direct investment, enabling trade and supporting efforts towards seeding a positive perception about South Africa with international investors and the global community at large,” noted Miller Matola, Brand South Africa’s chief executive officer.The delegation travelled on the Gautrain, a mass rapid transit railway system in Gauteng Province, linking Johannesburg, Pretoria, and OR Tambo International Airport, making their way to the Sheraton Hotel in Tshwane on 24 June. Here, they were addressed by Tshwane’s deputy city manager, Lindiwe Kwele, who spoke about the city’s long-term growth and development strategy, the Tshwane 2055 Vision.This Vision, which is in the final stages of being drawn up, will serve as a guide to turning the South African capital into “a Smart City” for its residents. The roll-out of smart meters was one of the bold steps the city is undertaking to build a smart city, said Kwele.She explained that the Vision for 2055 was inspired by the Freedom Charter, which was ratified in 1955. The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress and its allies, the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats and the Coloured People’s Congress. It is characterised by its opening statement: The people shall govern!Tshwane’s deputy city manager Lindiwe Kwele spoke about the City’s long-term growth and development strategyTshwane 2055 is busy implementing Smart City programmes, such as Smart economy, Smart people, Smart govern, Smart mobility, and Smart partnerships. Its A Re Yeng bus transit system was also high on the agenda at the meeting. It will convert the city, which was built for the use of cars, to one built for affordable, reliable and accessible public transport.Brand South Africa aims to mobilise the global South African network behind programmes of investment recruitment, skills identification, mentoring, skills transfer, study exchange and work experience initiatives. The delegation includes experts in the fields of international affairs, finance, and business.The delegationQin Chen from China works for Caixin Century, a leading magazine, and reports on economic and finance news. It has a weekly circulation of about 240 000 and is distributed in the cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well as in 35 second-tier cities catering to political, financial, industrial and academic leaders.Chen is a senior reporter on the finance and international desk. She has had one-on-one interviews with, among others, the former American national security adviser, Douglas Paal; the Belgian vice-prime minister, Didier Reynders; the Polish central bank governor, Marek Belka; Slawomir Majman, the president of Invest in Poland; and the South African transport minister, Dikobe Ben Martins; as well as many Fortune 500 chief executive officers.Lu Yifeng is a reporter on Wenhui Daily, a comprehensive daily newspaper run directly by the Communist Party of China Shanghai Committee. It reports on the latest Chinese, international and financial news and offers its readers an authoritative, in-depth analysis on current trends. He is the editor of the international desk and is in charge of planning and editorial, which covers Sino-United States relations, the Asia Pacific region and Brics.Brazilian Davi Etelvino is the publisher of Rodovias & Vias, an infrastructure magazine. The reader profile ranges from investors and politicians to entrepreneurs and technicians.The monthly magazine distributes over 30 000 copies to leading companies, government departments and the country’s national and regional congresses.Lúcia de Camargo is a reporter and sub-editor on Brazil’s Diáario do Comércio newspaper. It was founded in 1925 and is edited and published by the Associação Commerial de São Paulo. It prints four publications a week in 23 Brazilian states.Russian journalist Alexander Kokcharov is an infrastructure reporter and London correspondent on Expert News Magazine. The magazine is a business weekly and an analytical publication published every Monday. It has a circulation of 70 000, including 40 000 in Moscow.The media tour ends on 27 June in Port Elizabeth. The delegation will visit the port to view the state-of-the-art motor vehicle terminal, which is able to load and offload one vehicle every 30 seconds.read more

Share Facebook Twitter Google + LinkedIn Pinterest Tragedy struck on the first day of the Ohio State Fair.“This fair has been here a long time. This is the worst tragedy in the history of the fair,” said Gov. John Kasich in a press conference July 26. “It is hard to imagine that you have family that goes to a state fair and those calls come that there was a terrible accident and someone you love was involved. It is a very tough situation when you go somewhere to celebrate and have a great time with friends and family. The fair is about the best things in life.”Tyler Jarrell, 18, of Columbus, Ohio, was pronounced deceased at the fairgrounds. The following were injured and transported to area hospitals:Tamika Dunlap, 36, of Reynoldsburg, OhioRussell Franks, 42, of Columbus, OhioKeziah Lewis, 19, of Columbus, OhioJacob Andrews, 22, of Pataskala, OhioJennifer Lambert, 18, of Columbus, OhioAbdihakim Hussein, 19, of Columbus, OhioA 14 year-old male whose name is being withheld at the request of the family.Of those injured, three were initially in critical condition. The Fire Ball ride has been at the Ohio State Fair for 12 years and was among the most popular thrill rides. A section of the seats broke off shortly after 7 p.m. The ride had passed inspection.“We take this job very serious and when we have a tragedy like this it hits us really hard,” said Michael Vartorella, chief ride inspector of the Amusement Ride Safety Division of the Ohio Department of Agriculture. “My children and grandchildren ride this equipment. Our guys do not rush through this stuff. We look at it, take care of it and pretend it’s our own.”All rides at the fair were shut down after the incident. The Ohio State Fair started the day with 11 rides that did not open because they did not pass inspection.“Ride inspection is one of the most important things we do. The Department of Agriculture is responsible for that operation,” said David Daniels, ODA Director, at the press conference. “Our inspections take place as amusement rides come in. They are checked several times while they’re being put up and each and every day.”The Ohio State Highway Patrol was assisted by the Columbus Division of Police, Columbus Division of Fire, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Expo Center and State Fair. The accident remains under investigation.read more

Why Tech Companies Need Simpler Terms of Servic… Top Reasons to Go With Managed WordPress Hosting As Egyptians took to the streets and overthrew former President Hosni Mubarak, millions of people throughout the world turned to Al Jazeera for coverage. The global interest in events in the Middle East drove record levels of visitors to the news agency’s Web servers. Traffic to Al Jazeera’s site increased by 1,000% and that to its Drupal-based live blog increased by 2,000% during the crisis in Egypt, according to a blog post by Dreis Buytaert, Drupal creator and the founder of Acquia, which is now providing its elastic service for the international news organization. Previously, Al Jazeera’s site was hosted by a traditional Web host, but the demands caused by the surge required more resources. That’s where Acquia comes in, commanded by Buytaert, who also serves as lead developer.In the move, Al Jazeera transferred its live blog to Acquia’s Managed Cloud service. Like other cloud hosts, Acquia offers elastic resources so that sites can scale up – and back down – with ease. Unlike general purpose cloud hosts, Acquia specializes in Drupal, enabling it to fine tune its servers’ performance to the CMS’s particular needs.“Fast forward a few weeks, and the demands on Al Jazeera’s Web infrastructure have only increased with new crises across the region,” wrote Buytaert. But at some point the traffic level will taper down again. As we pointed out recently, the ability to scale-down is one of the unsung advantages of cloud services.Several other news media companies use Drupal, including The Economist, Fox News and Mother Jones. But regardless of the underlying CMS, news agencies should consider elastic hosting to handle spikes. Related Posts Tags:#cloud#Cloud Providers A Web Developer’s New Best Friend is the AI Wai… klint finley 8 Best WordPress Hosting Solutions on the Marketread more

In the thick of a monsoon downpour, 40 farmers, reins in hand, raced with their oxen through slushy fields in the tiny hamlet of Gawlipada in Mucheri village in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district.The unique ploughing competition had been organised to promote farming in this picturesque region nestled in the foothills of the Western Ghats. Young farmers, aged 18 to 25, used social media to invite participants to the first event of its kind in this village.Players had to plough a 200-metre circular track without touching the fluttering flags set along its edges, and the first to finish won ₹5,100 and a trophy. The sound of thundering hooves, loud cheers and folk songs brought alive a village that has no more than 120 families.Dubbed a ‘festival for the farmer, by the farmer’, the competition was organised by Sunil Bhalekar, Pratik Bhojane, Sanket Bhalekar and Sanjay Kamble. It was supported by Mucheri villagers now settled in Mumbai. Bhalekar, overwhelmed by the response, said: “We are always looking for a reason for villagers to return and take up farming again.”read more

Don’t miss out on the latest news and information. KUALA LUMPUR—The Philippine women’s volleyball team forged a masterful 25-18, 25-11, 25-16 victory over host Malaysia Thursday and head coach Francis Vicente is hoping that a pretournament prediction will hold true.Word going arount at MITEC Hall 11 is that people are expecting the Philippines and world power Thailand to duke it out for the crown.ADVERTISEMENT LIST: Class, gov’t work suspensions during 30th SEA Games WATCH: Streetboys show off slick dance moves in Vhong Navarro’s wedding MOST READ PH billiards team upbeat about gold medal chances in SEA Games PLAY LIST 03:07PH billiards team upbeat about gold medal chances in SEA Games05:25PH boxing team determined to deliver gold medals for PH02:49World-class track facilities installed at NCC for SEA Games00:50Trending Articles01:35Panelo suggests discounted SEA Games tickets for students03:04Filipino athletes share their expectations for 2019 SEA Games00:45Onyok Velasco see bright future for PH boxing in Olympics02:25PH women’s volleyball team motivated to deliver in front of hometown crowd01:27Filipino athletes get grand send-off ahead of SEA Games SEA Games: PH’s Alisson Perticheto tops ice skating short program LATEST STORIES LOOK: Venues for 2019 SEA Games UPLB exempted from SEA Games class suspension Catriona Gray spends Thanksgiving by preparing meals for people with illnesses There is a prediction that it’s going to be a Thailand versus Philippines in the finals.The first step to that direction is a win over Vietnam in the semifinals, to put the Philippines out of the Thais’ path in the semifinals.FEATURED STORIESSPORTSWATCH: Drones light up sky in final leg of SEA Games torch runSPORTSSEA Games: Philippines picks up 1st win in men’s water poloSPORTSMalditas save PH from shutout“Whatever happens the important thing is we avoid the No. 1 team in the other group,” said Vicente. A win over Vietnam on Friday will help in that goal.Jaja Santiago on the attack. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/POOLThe Philippine drubbed Vietnam during the Asian Championships last week in Biñan, Laguna. PH wins bronze in women’s 50m rifle for shooting’s 1st medal SEA Games in Calabarzon safe, secure – Solcom chief Read Next SEA Games: Philippines off to hot start in women’s volleyball2.7K viewsSportsVentuno Web Player 4.51 “Vietnam will put up the same team but of course we [have to be] prepared because for sure they will make adjustments,” said Vicente.Jaja Santiago towered over the opposition, banging in 13 points to lead the Philippines. Aby Marano added 11 markers while bringing in the energy for the Philippines, which started slowly before entertaining the large Filipino crowd that came to watch the game.Malaysian leaned on middle blocker Low Meng Cing who scored 15 points.Jovelyn Gonzaga scored nine points, Alyssa Valdez had eight, while Kim Fajardo and Aiza Pontillas chipped in six each for the Filipinos.ADVERTISEMENT Brace for potentially devastating typhoon approaching PH – NDRRMC View commentsread more

World Cup Salah fit for World Cup as Egypt confirm three-week injury absence Chris Burton Last updated 1 year ago 23:54 5/30/18 FacebookTwitterRedditcopy Comments(5) Getty Images World Cup Mohamed Salah Liverpool Egypt Premier League It was feared that the Liverpool forward could miss out altogether on a global showpiece, but it is hoped he will play some part in the group stage The Egyptian Football Association has revealed that Mohamed Salah’s absence through injury will “not exceed three weeks”, meaning that the Liverpool forward will play some part at World Cup 2018.After being forced to leave the Champions League final in tears , fears were immediately raised as to the 25-year-old’s possible participation at a global showpiece in Russia this summer.Various timescales have been put on Salah’s recovery, although the man himself was quick to declare himself “confident” that he would be ready for international duty as the furore surrounding an untimely knock swirled around him. Article continues below Editors’ Picks Goalkeeper crisis! Walker to the rescue but City sweating on Ederson injury ahead of Liverpool clash Out of his depth! Emery on borrowed time after another abysmal Arsenal display Diving, tactical fouls & the emerging war of words between Guardiola & Klopp Sorry, Cristiano! Pjanic is Juventus’ most important player right now Hani Abo Rida, president of the Egyptian FA, has now confirmed that a talismanic presence for the Pharaohs will need three weeks in which to recover full fitness, with it possible that he could play some part in the group stage for Hector Cuper’s side.A statement released by the EFA on their official social media channels read: “After the meeting of Abo Rida and the doctor of the national team in Spain today, the Football Association reaffirms that, God willing, Salah’s absence at the World Cup will not exceed three weeks.”Salah is currently in Spain to undergo treatment on a shoulder problem.He faces a race against time to recover full fitness in time to feature for Egypt at their first World Cup finals since 1990.Their 2018 campaign is due to get underway against Uruguay on June 15 , with Salah seemingly destined to sit out that encounter.He may come back into contention for a meeting with hosts Russia on June 19, while Egypt will be hoping there is still something riding on a clash with Saudi Arabia on June 25 if their star frontman is to be unavailable until then.They are desperate to get Salah involved in their plans after seeing him net 44 times across a remarkable 2017-18 campaign with Liverpool.Those exploits landed him the Premier League Golden Boot and PFA Player of the Year award, among countless other prizes, with a standing now established as a global superstar.His popularity has surged inside and outside of Egypt, with the current struggles of a national icon seeing some extreme measures taken by his most loyal followers.A petition calling for Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos to face punishment for the arm grab which caused Salah’s injury has passed 500,000 signatures, while an Egyptian lawyer has filed a €1 billion (£873m/$1.2bn) lawsuit against the Blancos defender .read more

Touch Football Australia (TFA) have great pleasure in announcing current Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Touch Association President Michael Rush as a new Director on the TFA Board of Management (BOM). Michael Rush joins returning member Brian Rooney as a Director after the TFA Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held at Bankstown Sports club in Sydney on Saturday 21 October 2006. Both gentlemen were elected to the TFA BOM via a ballot undertaken at the AGM by delegates representing each State.The five-member TFA BOM now consists of Chairman Michael Sparks, and fellow directors Bill Ker, Bruce Ainsley, Brian Rooney, and of course “new boy” Michael Rush.Michael has had a 15-year association with Touch Football, and boasts experience across many of the sport’s arms, including refereeing and referee coaching, playing, and administration.Michael has tertiary qualifications in economics and works in programme management in the Public Service.His experience in strategic analysis and planning, financial management and working with community entities will be invaluable assets to the TFA Board of Management, as the sport enters a new and exciting phase of growth, expansion, and professionalism.Michael brings a perfect balance to the Board of Management position, combining an impressive skill set in business with a very “hands-on” appreciation, knowledge, and experience of the sport of Touch Football and our affiliated members.In addition to being the ACT Touch Association President since 2003, Michael was the Vice-President of the organisation in 2001-02, and has been an ACT Touch Association Board Member since 1998.Michael has been a member of the National Referees Panel since 2005, is the current ACT Director of Referees and a past president as well as long-serving Committee Member of the ACT Touch Referees Association.Michael is a Level 4 Course Presenter and a Level 3 Referee Coach.Michael is excited about his new role and about having an opportunity to contribute in this way to the future opportunities for the sport and we welcome him on board.read more